When Noelle Quinn’s desperation 3-pointer fell just short
as time expired, so did the Bruins’ furious comeback against
USC on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. The result was a 75-72 loss,
the Bruins’ fourth straight against the Women of Troy.
UCLA started the game strong in what had all the makings of a
shootout, with Amanda Livingston leading the way with eight points
in the first 5:36.
The lead went back and forth during the first 10 minutes but
then the Bruins’ offense hit a wall, only scoring three
points in almost six minutes of play. The Trojans (10-7, 4-3
Pac-10) began to pull away and held a 40-33 advantage at
halftime.
USC pushed the lead to as many as 13 with only 9:21 to go, but
Quinn and the Bruins (9-10, 3-4 Pac-10) would not give up.
“I never think we’re going to lose any game that we
play,” Quinn said. “I always tell everyone that every
possession is crucial. At that point (when we were down 13), I was
telling everyone that and that we need to play defense.”
Quinn led the Bruins back into the game, and with only eight
seconds left, Shaina Zaidi hit a trey to bring UCLA within
three.
The Bruin defense forced USC to throw the inbounds pass away,
and the Bruins got the ball back with only four seconds
remaining.
UCLA coach Kathy Olivier designed a new play in the huddle as
Quinn lay on the floor stretching out her cramped legs, and the
Bruins executed it well. They got the ball into their
playmaker’s hands coming off a screen, but Quinn’s
momentum carried her away from the basket, and her shot, though in
line with the basket, fell short, sealing the game for USC.
A big difference in the game was free-throw shooting. Although
USC did not hit a shot from the floor in the final five minutes,
the Trojans sank 11 free throws in that time and went 16-of-17 from
the charity stripe on the afternoon, including seven of eight by
USC guard Eshaya Murphy. The Bruins sank eight of 13 shots from the
line.
“(Murphy is) going to get the ball,” Olivier said.
“They set a lot of screens for her. … I thought we did a
good job on her as far as her shot selection. I just felt we let
her get to the free throw line too much.”
Murphy hit all of her free throws in the final 52 seconds to
clinch another close win for the Women of Troy. Saturday’s
matchup was the sixth straight in which the rivalry game has been
decided by four points or less.
“It’s going to be like that,” Livingston said.
“It’s going to be a fight until the end whenever you
play your rival school. Both teams are going to get out there and
try to give it everything they’ve got. When you have that and
a lot of competitiveness, you’re going to have a lot of fight
and a lot of fire from both teams. It’s going to go down to
the wire.”
Though the Women of Troy currently have seven injured
scholarship players, their athletic defense limited the
Bruins’ inside game. UCLA’s second-leading scorer on
the season, Lindsey Pluimer, was held to only four points on 1-9
shooting from the floor. Quinn led all Bruins with 17 points and
all players with nine rebounds and 10 assists.
NOTES: The home attendance of 7,134 was the
eighth-largest crowd ever at a UCLA women’s basketball game.
… With 10 assists Saturday, Quinn now has 121 on the season,
placing her in the top 10 nationally with 6.4 assists per game.